Pope Francis: “Rediscovering the nativity scene and preparing it in squares and schools”
The Pope visited the Sanctuary of Greccio, where St. Francis made the first crib and signed the Apostolic Letter “Admirabile signum” on the meaning and value of the crib: “I would like to support the beautiful tradition of our families, which in the days preceding Christmas prepare the crib. As well as the custom of setting it up in workplaces, schools, hospitals, prisons, squares “.
Pope Francis returns to talk about one of the symbols of Christmas, the creche. He did it from Greccio, in the province of Rieti, where St. Francis of Assisi founded his sanctuary and invented the nativity scene and where Bergoglio wanted to inaugurate the Advent period. “With this Letter I would like to support the beautiful tradition of our families, who prepare the nativity scene in the days before Christmas. As well as the custom of set it up in workplaces, schools, hospitals, prisons, squares …“, wrote Pope Francis in the Apostolic Letter” Admirabile signum “signed and sent by the Lazio village. In short, the Pope’s wish is to return to making the crib not only at home, in fact, but also in schools and other places public. “I hope this practice will never fail; on the contrary, I hope that, where it had fallen into disuse, it can be rediscovered and revitalized ”, writes Bergoglio.
The value of the crib according to Pope Francis – “In front of the rock of these mountains so dear to St. Francis, what we are called to accomplish is, first of all, to rediscover simplicity – the Pope said – The nativity scene, which for the first time St. Francis created in this small space, in imitation of the narrow cave in Bethlehem, he speaks for himself. Here there is no need to multiply words, because the scene that is placed before our eyes expresses the wisdom we need to grasp the essential “. The Pontiff uses clear words: the crib is the soul not only of faith, but of the people, and the Pope therefore asks that it be represented again in schools and squares, where it has sometimes been removed in recent times. “Composing the nativity scene in our homes helps us to relive the history that was lived in Bethlehem”, underlines Francis in the letter. “Of course, the Gospels always remain the source that allows us to know and meditate on that Event”, explains Pope Francis, however, the “representation in the nativity scene helps to imagine the scenes, stimulates affections, invites us to feel involved in the history of salvation. , contemporaries of the event which is alive and current in the most diverse historical and cultural contexts “. “Wherever and in any form, the nativity scene tells the love of Godthe God who became a child to tell us how close he is to every human being, in whatever condition he is “, concludes Pope Francis.
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“The crib belongs to everyone, it cannot be exploited” – On the subject of the crib, evidently to avoid predictable exploitation, Monsignor Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, also intervened, who in the introduction to the text wrote: “The crib belongs to everyone, it cannot be exploited, because that child who stretches out his arms lets himself be embraced by anyone who approaches him ”.
